Wire stretcher



April 7,- 1953 G. G. HAYS WIRE STRETCHER Filed April 20, 1950 VIII/III! llllllllllllllli;

GLENN G. HAYS Zinnentor (Ittorneg stretcher of that no part of the mechanism itself obstructs the space between the two ends of the wire dur- =ing the stretching operation, thus greatly facili- Patented Apr. 7, i953 ED STATES PATENT OFFICE "wins STRETCHER 7 Glenn G. Hays, Ransom, Kans.

, Application April at, 1950, Serial No. 157.010

' (o1. zen-e) V 5 Claims.

I This invention relates'towire stretchers and its chief object is to provide a stretcher capable of grasping the two loose ends of abroken fence wire "and of pulling those two ends together so that they can be clamped or"o'therwise secured together to repair the fence.

- It'is another important object to provide a this type which is so constructed tating the connection of the two ends together to'efiect the desired repair.

Another object is to provide a stretcher which eliminates the necessity of bending the parted ends of a 'broken wire in order to 'bring the ends together for connection, with the consequent elimination of additional breakage of the wire due to age and brittleness.

A still further object is to provide a stretcher which does not have to be anchored to any fixed object, such as a fence post, in order to exert 'therequired pulling force on the parted ends of a broken wire.

Another object is to provide s. stretcher which exerts its pulling force along a straight line connecting the two parted ends of a broken wire.

The invention, together with other objects attending its production, will be more clearly understood when the following description is read in'connection with the accompanying draw- -ings,inw'hich:

Fig. 1 is a side view of'a preferred embodiment "of the invention illustrating its use as well as showing certain details of construction;

Fig. 2 is a detailed vertical sectional view through a part of the tool shown in Fig. 1;

Fig; 3 illustrates a preferred form of wire clamping unit which constitutes a part of the tool Fig. 4 is --a detailed lateral sectional view through apart of the invention shown in Fig.

1';=and

Fig. -5 is a detailed view of the ratchet mechanism,=-with parts in section.

General description 7 By referring :to the drawing it will be seen that theembodiment illustrated generally includes a pair of elongated rigid members [0 and l l pivotally connected together at one end on a transverse axis l2, for movement toward and away from each other in the same plane or in closely adjacent :parallel planes.

rcludinga cable l4 and a chain '15 operably conlect thef-ree ends of the-members- "A sprocket l6, keyed on a transverse shaft l1 journaled near 15.. A handle [8 operably connected to the shat-t H by means of a conventional ratchet d p wl coupling, serves to rotate the sprocket to movethe chain l5 and its attached pulley IQ-t-oward the free end of member I I, thus forcing the free ends of members it and II toward each other, and simultaneously pulling the parted ends .20 andil of a broken wire into over-lapping closely ad.- jacent relation so that they may be easily connected together by any suitable means (not shown) An auxiliary spring pressed pawl 22 00-- operates with shaft attached ratchet wheel :23 to prevent reverse movement of the sprocket L6 during the stretching operation.

Construction Details The rigid members It :and H are preferably tubular except at their lower ends where they are provided with hinge brackets, welded in place. The upper end of the member I l receives the reduced cylindrical end 24 of a sprocket housing 25, held in position by means of bolts:26 and 21. The opposite side walls 28 .and29 (Fig. 4) of this housing journal the shaft H. The front bottom portion of the housin is provided with a substantially channel shaped chain guide 30, held in position by bolts 3| and .32. The outer end of this housing 25 is closed by the "reduced shank 33 of a clevis 34, held in position by rivets 35. The innerend of the reducedshank 33 is arcuately formed, as at 36, to serve as an additional chain guide. The rear portion of the housing is closed by a plate 31, held in position by bolts 38 and 39. The inner surface of the plate carries an additional chain guide 40 which is arcuately formed as-shown in Fig. 2, and which cooperates with the adjacent arcuate surface of the guide 30 to guide the free end of the chain l5 into the adjacent open end of a tube 4|, which is pressed fitted into the cylindrical portion 24 of the housing. The inner end of the chain 15 is fitted with a dummy link 42 which will not're- 'ceive a sprocket tooth, and which consequently the shaft. A pawl 22, mounted on the housing by pivot pin 43, is urged by spring 44 into contact with the ratchet wheel teeth to prevent undesired reverse rotation thereof, and of the sprocket. A shaft rotating handle I8 is pivotally mounted on the hub of the ratchet wheel 23, as

in Fig.4,and is operably'connected'to the ratchet wheel by neans ofa conventional spring pressed releasable pawl -45 ('Fig.='5) ,--pivotally mounted on integral lug 6|.

pin 54 between the parallel sides of the bifurcated end of the handle I8. A control handle 55 is made integral with this pawl, and projects outward for easy operation by the thumb. A spring 48 has one end encircling a small pin 49 formed integrally at the inner end of the pawl. The other end of the spring encircles a small pin 50 which projects inwardly from the angular shoulder When the pawl handle 55 is moved toward the ratchet wheel 23 the spring mount pin 49 moves to a position to one side of a'line connecting the pin 58 and the pivot 54. In this position the spring tends to keep the opposite end of the pawl in operative contact with the teeth of the ratchet wheel. When the pawl handle is moved away from the ratchet wheel, the pin 49 and that end of the spring move to the opposite side of a line connecting the pin 58 and the pivot 54. In this position the spring tends to hold the end of the pawl out of contact with the ratchet wheel to rotate freely without affecting the handle I8. The shoulder serves as a stop to limit the travel of the pawl away from the ratchet wheel.

A clevis 46 has one end connected by pin 41 to the free end of chain I5. The other end of the clevis carries a pulley I9 on cross pin 56. A cable I4 is strung through the clevis and over the pulley I9, and has its opposite ends connected to one of the rigid members ID by means of the pins I2 and 51. The cable is strung loosely between these two pins, and serves to maintain the free end of chain I5 out of the path of travel of wires held in the clamping units I3, during the wire pulling operation, thus leaving the space between the two ends of the wire clear to facilitate the application of a suitable wire repair link. Naturally the cable I4 also serves to transmit the pulling force from the free end of chain I5 to the outer end of rigid member I0. It will be understood that this transmission of power from the sprocket I6 to the free end of member I8, while maintaining the intermediate space clear of obstructions, may be accomplished by other chain and cable arrangements which will be suggested to those familiar with this art by the illustrated embodiment, and the invention is not limited to the particular arrangement shown, but is limited only by the appended claims.

As clearly'shown in Fig. 3, a preferred form of wire clamping unit includes an elongated heavy gage sheet metal body having opposite integral upturned ears 58 and 59, with aligned perforations for receiving cross pins 66 for pivotally mounting the units at the respective outer ends of the members I0 and I I. Near its opposite end each wire clamping unit has an upturned A wire gripping wheel 62, having a sharp toothed periphery is eccentrically mounted on a pivot pin 63, so that as it is rotated its periphery either approaches or moves away from the adjacent surface of lug 6|. A handle 64 is rigidly secured to the wheel.

Operation is similarly placed in the other clamping unit,

mounted on the opposite or .ing means operatively and a grip established. Pawl control handle 55 is then moved by thumb pressure toward ratchet wheel 23 until the inner end of spring 48 passes over center and maintains the working end of the pawl against the ratchet.

Handle I8 is now manually oscillated, rotating shaft I1 and sprocket wheel I6 by steps. Chain I5 is drawn into the upper end of member II. and passes down into tube 4|. Pulley I9 exerts a pull on cable I4, and the outer or free end of member ID is moved toward the similar end of member II. When the inner ends of the two wires 28 and 2I are sufiiciently close together, the

I and that pawl is'manually moved away from ratchet wheel 23. Pawl control handle 55 is then moved to free ratchet wheel 23, and the built up tension in the two stretched wires causes the outer ends of members I0 and II to move away from each other. Clamping unit control handles 64 are then rotated away from the point of wire repair, and the entire tool is free for transport to the next wire break.

Having described the construction and operation of one embodiment of the invention with sufiicient clarity to enable those familiar with this art to construct and use it, I claim:

1. A wire stretcher comprising: first and second rigid elongated arms pivotally connected together at their inner ends to form an expansible and contractible V; a wire clamping unit on the outer end of each arm; a flexible cable having its opposite ends secured to the second arm near its respective ends, the length of said cable being only slightly greater than the distance between the points of its attachment to the arm; an elongated fiexible element having one of its ends connected to said cable for slidable movement therealong; and mechanical advantage mean mounted near the outer end of said first arm and operably connected to the other end of said flexible element for forcibly moving the said element longitudinally toward said first arm to force the outer ends of the two arms toward each other.

2. The invention described in claim-l and locking means operatively associated'with said mechanical advantage means to prevent movement of said flexible element in an opposite direction.

7 3. A wire stretcher comprising: first and second rigid elongated arms pivotally connected together at their inner ends to form an expansible and contractible V; a wire clamping unit carried by the outer end of each arm; a reeling member rotatably mounted near the outer end of the first arm; a flexible element having one end engaged with and movable longitudinally by the rotation of said reeling member; a flexible cable having its opposite ends secured to the second arm near its of said cable being only slightly greater than the distance between the points of its attachment to the arm means free end of said flexible element slidably connecting said element to said cable; and means for rotating said reeling member to force the free ends of the two arms to approach each other through the cooperation of the flexible element and the cable.

4. The invention described in claim 3, and lockassociated with the sprocket rotating means to prevent reverse rotation thereof.

5. In a wire stretcher which includes two elongated rigid arms pivotally connected together at their inner ends, and each having a wire clamping means on its outer end, mechanism for forcibly moving the outer ends of said arms toward each other. comprising: a first flexible element havin its opposite ends secured to one of said arms near its respective opposite ends; a second flexible element having one of its ends connected to the first flexible element for slidable movement therealong} a reel mechanism including a ratchet and handle carried by the other of said arms near its outer end; and means connecting the other end of the second flexible element to said reel mechanism.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file 01' this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

